Palestinian killed in Israeli raid

A Palestinian man has been killed and 20 others wounded in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials say.

13 Dec 2005 11:48 GMT

Armed Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers in Nablus

The man was shot in the head on Tuesday when Israeli occupation forces opened fire at a group of stone-throwers near the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, said Hasan al-Titi, Aljazeera's correspondent in Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

Hussam Saqr, 22, from the village of Quwwar, died later in a hospital, medical officials told AP. The officials said Saqr had been unarmed.

The Israeli occupation army said it had no exact information on Saqr's death and was investigating the report.

An Israeli military jeep overturned, blocking the way of Israeli troops and delaying their entry into the city, al-Titi reported.

The Israeli occupation army declined to comment, but a spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Israeli military sources said two soldiers were slightly wounded from an explosive device thrown by Palestinians during the raid, apparently to seize wanted fighters.

They said armed men opened fire several times at the troops.

The Israeli occupation army launches almost daily incursions into the West Bank city of Nablus, its refugee camps and nearby villages,

Gaza farmer

Also on Tuesday, Israeli troops in a tank shot and killed a Palestinian farmer in his field, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Hussam Saqr, 22, died later in hospital, medical officials said

Muhammad Fara, 45, of the village of Abbasam near the Israeli border, was farming when a tank fired and killed him, the officials said.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks patrolling the Gaza border area fired sporadically throughout the night and morning because heavy fog prevented soldiers from being able to decipher whether Palestinians were trying to cross the border.

The Israeli occupation army said no tanks or artillery had been fired in the area.

The Palestinian Interior Ministry has opened an investigation into the death.

"The Palestinian Interior Ministry is investigating the cause of the death of the 45-year-old man who was evacuated this morning based on a claim from his family that he was wounded and killed by an Israeli tank shell," said Interior Ministry spokesman, Tawfik Abu Khoussa.